The Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL), Police and the Attorney General’s Department risk being overwhelmed unless campaign finance laws are amended to streamline enforcement, according to People’s Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi.
Hettiarachchi emphasised the importance of introducing automatic disqualification for candidates who fail to submit their expense reports on time, thus eliminating the need for protracted legal processes.
At present, the ECSL must initiate legal action against non-compliant candidates by filing complaints with the Police, who then consult the Attorney General’s Department before proceedings can begin. Hettiarachchi criticised this procedure as unnecessarily cumbersome, especially considering the sheer scale of non-compliance.
“For instance, during the 2024 Presidential election, 13 candidates, along with their party Secretaries or nominators, failed to submit their expense reports. Similarly, over 100 candidates at the Elpitiya Local Council poll and over 1,200 contestants in the November 2024 General election also failed to comply. If 10,000 candidates were to default at the upcoming Local Council elections, the entire system would collapse,” he said.
Candidates found guilty of failing to submit expense reports are fined Rs. 100,000 and lose their civic rights for three years under existing laws. However, this penalty can only be applied after lengthy legal proceedings, which Hettiarachchi said are unnecessary for such a straightforward breach.
“This is a clear case of non-compliance. There’s no need for investigations or extended legal processes. Yet, the current system consumes resources and clogs up the courts, leaving them with reduced capacity to handle other judicial matters,” he said.
Hettiarachchi proposed stricter reforms, including extending the suspension of civic rights from three to seven years and implementing immediate disqualification for non-compliance. “These measures would simplify enforcement, reduce the administrative burden, and ensure greater accountability from candidates,” he added.
He underscored the urgent need for these reforms to address inefficiencies in the current system and uphold the integrity of Sri Lanka’s electoral process.
